Method of establishing communications

ABSTRACT

A method of establishing communications with a first device is disclosed. The method includes: the first device presenting connection information to a second device; receiving a response from a second device; establishing an association with the second device; transmitting, in response to a determination that the first device and the second device are connected for data, first data to the second device, the first data comprising addressing information for a server; receiving second data from the second device, the second data comprising second information for establishing communications with the first device; and configuring the first device to receive third data from a location remote to the first device using the second information from the second data.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/474,716, filed Sep. 2, 2014 and published on Mar. 3, 2016 as U.S.Patent Publication No. 2016-0066178, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

This relates generally to methods and systems for activating a device,and more particularly, to using a second device to activate a firstdevice.

BACKGROUND

A new (or freshly-restored) electronic device usually needs to beactivated before it can be used. The activation process can typicallyinvolve, for example, initializing some basic settings (e.g., date/time,language), security (e.g., username, password), and/or other system andnetwork settings (e.g., phone number, network account) associated withthe device. Some devices (e.g., smartphones) require a networkconnection for at least part of the activation process to, for example,register with and receive confirmation from a network server and/ordownload data from a network. However, the activation process can be achallenge for devices restricted by their limited network capabilitiesand other limitations.

SUMMARY

This generally relates to activating an electronic device using anotherelectronic device. In the embodiments discussed below, the device beingactivated can be referred to as the first device and the deviceassisting with the activation of the first device can be referred to asthe second device. The first device can have limited network capabilityand/or restricted by its form factor, which can make it difficult for itto perform a self-activation. The first device can be paired with thesecond device. A secure channel can be established between the paireddevices to allow the first device to pass data to the second device. Thesecond device can, in turn, serve as a proxy to make the activationrequest on behalf of the first device and return the necessaryinformation to the first device to complete the activation process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network including afirst device and a second device, according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps of activating a firstdevice using a second device as a proxy, according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the exemplary modules of a firstdevice, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the exemplary modules of a seconddevice, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the exemplary modules of thenetwork server, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary components of a computing system such asthe first device or second device described in the embodiments of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of example embodiments, reference is madeto the accompanying drawings in which it is shown by way of illustrationspecific embodiments that can be practiced. It is to be understood thatother embodiments can be used and structural changes can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the various embodiments.

This generally relates to activating an electronic device using anotherelectronic device. In the embodiments discussed below, the device beingactivated can be referred to as the first device and the deviceassisting with the activation of the first device can be referred to asthe second device. The first device can have limited network capabilityand/or restricted by its form factor, which can make it difficult for itto perform a self-activation. The first device can be paired with thesecond device. A secure channel can be established between the paireddevices to allow the first device to pass data to the second device. Thesecond device can, in turn, serve as a proxy to make the activationrequest on behalf of the first device and return the necessaryinformation to the first device to complete the activation process.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network including the first and seconddevices 100, 102. The first device 100 can be any electronic deviceincluding, but not limited to, a tablet PC, smartphone, cellular phone,digital media player, electronic reader, electronic wearable device,smart TV, video game console, a personal computer (PC), and Mac. In someembodiments, the first device 100 can have limited network capability,at least before it is activated. For example, the first device 100 maynot be able to connect to a cellular or Wi-Fi network and can be limitedto having only short distance wireless connections such as a Bluetoothconnection. The cellular or Wi-Fi capabilities can be unavailable beforethe activation process is completed. Additionally or alternatively, insome embodiments, the first device 100 can be limited by its formfactor. For example, the first device 100 may not include a virtual orphysical keypad that allows a user to enter input such as a Wi-Fipassword to establish a Wi-Fi connection. As such, the first device 100may not be able to perform one or more steps of the activation process(e.g., a step that requires a Wi-Fi connection to a network server) onits own.

In the embodiments described below, the first device 100 can use thesecond device 102 as its proxy to solve this problem. More specifically,the second device 102 can perform a number of steps including, forexample, making the activation request to a network server 104 on behalfof the first device 100 and forwarding a confirmation and otherinformation from the network server 104 to the first device 100.

The second device 102 can also be any electronic device including, butnot limited to, a tablet PC, smartphone, cellular phone, digital mediaplayer, electronic reader, electronic wearable device, smart TV, videogame console, a personal computer (PC), and Mac. Preferably, unlike thefirst device 100, the second device 102 can be network enabled toconnect to, for example, a Wi-Fi or cellular network to communicate withother devices (e.g., network server 104) on the same network.Accordingly, the second device 102 can perform its own activationwithout assistance from another device. The second device 102 canadditionally have short distance network capability such as Bluetooththat allows it to communicate with the first device 100, as will bedetailed below. In addition, the second device can include common I/Odevices such as a camera, scanner, microphone, and/or display forinterfacing with a user and/or another device.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the second device can be connected to anetwork server 104 via a network. The network can be any type ofcomputer network including, but not limited to, a local area network(LAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, Wi-Fi network, andcellular network. The network server 104 can be a cloud server or anyother types of computer servers. In this embodiment, the first devicemay not be able to connect to the network server 104 directly when ithas not been activated yet.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the exemplary steps in a method ofactivating the first device 100, according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. In this embodiment, the second device 102 can serve as aproxy for the first device 100 by passing the required information backand forth between the first device 100 and the network server 104.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the activation process can start by poweringup the first device (step 201). In one embodiment, a welcome screen canbe shown followed by one or more screens that allow one or more localsetup steps (e.g., selecting a language) to be performed (step 202). Ifthe first device is a wearable device, the first device can determine ifit is being worn by the user. This can be done using one or more sensors(e.g., a touch, proximity sensor, a heart rate sensor, or otherbiological sensor) built in the first device. If it is determined thatthe first device is not being worn by the user, the first device candisplay a message asking the user to put on the device to continue theactivation process (step 203). This step can be optional if the deviceis already being worn by the user or if the device is not a wearabledevice. In some embodiments, this step can be optional regardless ofwhether the device is a wearable device or not.

In this embodiment, because of its limited network capability, the firstdevice may not be able to connect to the network directly. Accordingly,the first device can be required to connect to a proxy device such asthe second device to continue the activation process.

For example, the first device can launch an application (e.g., a mobileapp) to display a computer-readable code (e.g., a Quick Response (QR)code or bar code) on its display (step 204). Specific examples ofcomputer-readable code are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/339,754, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirely.In some implementations, the computer readable code is not visible or isdifficult to be seen by the human eye. The computer-readable code canencode information that can be used in the activation process. Forexample, the computer-readable code can include a device ID foridentifying the first device to another device (e.g., the seconddevice). In addition, the computer-readable code can include a Bluetoothout-of-band ID (or other similar information) for establishing acommunication channel between the first device and the second device.

In this embodiment, when the computer-readable code is displayed on thefirst device, the first device can start advertising itself to otherdevices using, for example, the Bluetooth LE standard advertisingprotocol (step 205). The first device can remain in this state until aresponse from another device (e.g., the second device) is received.Alternatively, the advertising can end after a predetermined period oftime.

To initiate the pairing process, the second device can, for example,scan the computer-readable code displayed on the first device (step206). In one embodiment, a code-scanning app can be launched on thesecond device. The app can turn on the camera on the second device anduse the camera to scan the code (e.g., a QR code) displayed on the firstdevice. The second device can then use the app to extract theinformation such as the device ID and the Bluetooth out-of-band key fromthe code (step 207).

In other embodiments, different mechanisms can be used to pass the sameinformation from the first device to the second device. For example, inone embodiment, the information can be encoded in, for example, an audioclip, that can be captured by a microphone on the second device. Inanother embodiment, a user can tap the two devices together to transferthe information. It should be understood that the disclosure is notlimited to the mechanisms mentioned in this document and that anysuitable means can be used for passing information between the twodevices in order to pair the devices.

In one embodiment, the pairing process can include the first and seconddevices performing a “handshake” to make sure that the devices areconnectible. Once it is determined that they can connect, the devicescan be connected using, for example, the Bluetooth out-of-band key(e.g., a 16-byte key) extracted from the computer-readable code. The keycan define the first device as a re-connectable device to the seconddevice and be plugged in on both devices to pair the devices. Ifsuccessful, a Bluetooth secure channel can be brought up (step 208).With the secure channel in place, the devices can verify if theiridentity services (IDS) are running normally (step 209). The IDS caninclude a queue for storing forward messages between the two devicesand, thus, be used as a messaging system for facilitating communicationsbetween the first and second devices. Part of bringing up the IDS canalso include checking whether both devices are valid to make sure thatnot only that there can be a secure connection between them, but thatthe devices themselves are trusted devices. In one embodiment, a devicecan be deemed a trusted device if it runs the same OS or is on the sameplatform with respect to the other device.

After the second device determines that the pairing with the firstdevice is successful and the devices are connected for data, the seconddevice can notify the first device to activate using the IDS channelthat has been brought up (step 210). This communication can betransmitted via the secure channel within the IDS. Although a securechannel within IDS is described as the communication channel between thetwo devices in this embodiment, it should be understood that othersuitable communication channels/services can also be used for performingthe same tasks.

Then, the first device can put together a package of activation data,which can include, for example, the device type, serial number, andunique ID associated with the first device along with a network addresssuch as a uniform resource locator (URL) that identifies the location ofa network server. The first device can send the package to the seconddevice via the secure channel (step 212). After receiving the activationpackage from the first device, the second device can connect to thenetwork server based on the network address and perform a proxyactivation at the network server (step 213). The network server can, inturn, send an activation payload back to the second device (step 214).The activation payload can include, for example, a confirmation that thefirst device is a valid device, updates for the first device'sregulatory images, and one or more keys for digital rights management(DRM) security. The second device can pass this activation payload tothe first device via the secured channel within the IDS (step 215).Using the information in the activation payload, the first device cancomplete the activation by, for example, updating its regulatory images,setting up its DRM security, and performing other necessary steps to putitself in an activated state. The first device can then notify thesecond device whether the activation is successful (step 216). If theactivation is successful, the process is finished. If not, the firstdevice can request the second device to display a message to inform theuser that the activation has failed and provide an option for the userto try activating the first device again.

Because IDS can also be used by a messaging service on the devices, theycan also leverage a high-level user account (e.g., an Apple ID)associated with the first device to provide additional and/or moreadvanced features on the first device. In one embodiment, the firstdevice can receive a temporary account to identify itself when it ispaired with the second device. Thereafter, the first device can ask theuser to authorize the device using his high-level user account (e.g.,Apple ID). When authorization is done, additional processes such assoftware opt-ins and data synchronization (e.g., copying or moving datafrom the second device and/or another remote location, e.g., a cloudstorage, to the first device) can be performed. Additionally oralternatively, with the upgraded account, the first device can havedirect Wi-Fi access and/or connect to a cloud server by using a pushtoken associated with the account. Additionally or alternatively,storage space for the first device can be allocated on the second deviceor a remote server for backing up and storing data from the firstdevice. The secure channel within the IDS can be preserved after thepairing stage to facilitate further communications between the twodevices.

Although embodiment of FIG. 2 illustrates using one device (e.g., thesecond device) to activate another device (e.g., the first device), itshould be understood that any suitable device within Bluetooth range ofthe first device can be used to activate the first device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the exemplary modules of thefirst device 100 of FIG. 1. The first device 100 can include, forexample, a prompting module 301, display module 302, advertising module303, connecting module 304, activation package creating module 305,transmitting module 306, receiving module 307, and notifying module 308.The prompting module 301 can prompt the user to wear the first device.Additionally or alternatively, the prompting module 301 can prompt theuser to select some of the local settings (e.g., language) of the firstdevice 100. The display module 301 can display a computer-readable codesuch as a QR code to be used for pairing the first device with anotherdevice. The advertising module 302 can advertise the first device toother devices in its vicinity (e.g., within the Bluetooth connectionradius). The connecting module 303 can establish a connection (e.g., asecure channel within IDS) between the first device and the seconddevice. The activation package creating module 304 can create anactivation package including information that can be used by the seconddevice to perform a proxy activation. The transmitting module 305 cantransmit the activation package to the second device. The receivingmodule 306 can receive an activation payload from the second device. Thenotifying module 307 can notify the second device whether the activationprocess is a success. It should be understood that some of the modulesillustrated in FIG. 3 can be optional and the first device 100 caninclude other modules not illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the exemplary modules of thesecond device 102 of FIG. 1. The second device 102 can include, forexample, a scanning module 401, extracting module 402, connecting module403, notifying module 404, proxy activation module 405, and activationpayload forwarding module 406. The scanning module 401 can scan thecomputer-readable code displayed on a device being activated (e.g., thefirst device). The extracting module 402 can extract information fromthe scanned computer-readable code. The connecting module 403 canestablish a communication channel with the first device usinginformation extracted from the scanned computer-readable code. Thenotifying module 404 can notify the first device (e.g., the firstdevice) that a communication channel has been established fortransmitting information required to complete the activation of thefirst device. The proxy activating module 405 can perform a proxyactivation at a network server in response to a request from the firstdevice. The activation payload forward module 406 can forward anactivation payload received from the network server to the first device.It should be understood that some of the modules illustrated in FIG. 4can be optional and the second device 102 can include other modules notillustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the exemplary modules of thenetwork server 104 of FIG. 1. The network server 104 can include areceiving module 501 configured to receive an activation request from adevice on the network. The device can be a device to be activated or adevice (e.g., the second device 102) serving as a proxy to the device(e.g., the first device 100) being activated. The network server 104 canalso include an activation payload generating module 502 that cangenerate an activation payload to be used in activating a device and atransmitting module 503 that can transmit the activation payload toeither the device being activated or the device serving as a proxy tothe device being activated.

Each of the modules of FIGS. 3-5 can be implemented in software,hardware, or a combination of the two. In some embodiments, one or moreof the modules of the first device 100, second device 102, and networkserver 104 can be implemented in software and stored and/or transportedwithin any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use by orin connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, orother system that can fetch the instructions from the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. Inthe context of this document, a “non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium” can be any medium that can contain or store the programfor use by or in connection with the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium can include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatusor device, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random accessmemory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) (magnetic), a portableoptical disc such a CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, or DVD-RW, or flashmemory such as compact flash cards, secured digital cards, USB memorydevices, memory sticks, and the like.

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium can be part of acomputing system that can be the first device, second device, or networkserver in the above-described embodiments. FIG. 6 illustrates exemplarycommon components of one such computing system. As illustrated, thesystem 600 can include a central processing unit (CPU) 602, I/Ocomponents 604 including, but not limited to one or more of display,keypad, touch screen, speaker, and microphone, storage medium 606 suchas the ones listed in the last paragraph, and network interface 608, allof which can be connected to each other via a system bus 610. Thestorage medium 606 can include the modules of FIGS. 3-5 depending onwhether the system is the first device 100, second device 102, ornetwork server 104.

Although embodiments have been fully described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes andmodifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Suchchanges and modifications are to be understood as being included withinthe scope of the various embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of establishing communications with afirst device, the method comprising, at the first device: presentingconnection information to a second device; receiving a response from thesecond device; establishing an association with the second device;transmitting, in response to a determination that the first device andthe second device are connected for data, first data to the seconddevice, the first data comprising addressing information for a server;receiving second data from the second device, the second data comprisinginformation for establishing communications with the first device; andin response to receiving the second data from the second deviceconfiguring the first device to receive third data from a locationremote to the first device using the information from the second data.2. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing an association with thesecond device comprises: pairing with the second device; andestablishing a communication channel with the second device.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first data comprises an informationpackage.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second data comprises aninformation payload.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the informationpayload comprises authentication information.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the second device comprises the server.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the location remote to the first device corresponds to thelocation of a cloud server.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thelocation remote to the first device corresponds to the location of thesecond device.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device andthe second device are connected to a network, and the remote locationcorresponds to the location of a third device connected to the network.10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second device comprises a networkgateway.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second device is one ofa tablet PC, a smartphone, a cellular phone, a digital media player, anelectronic reader, an electronic wearable device, a smart TV, a videogame console, a desktop computer, and a laptop computer.
 12. The methodof claim 1, wherein receiving data from a location remote to the firstdevice comprises synchronizing data between the first device and thelocation remote to the first device.
 13. A method of establishingcommunications with a first device, the method comprising, at a seconddevice: receiving connection information from the first device; sendinga response to the first device; establishing an association with thefirst device; receiving, in response to a determination that the firstdevice and the second device are connected for data, first data from thefirst device, the first data comprising addressing information for aserver; connecting to the server using the first data; sending seconddata to the first device, the second data comprising information forestablishing communications with the first device; and in response tothe first device establishing communications with a location remote tothe first device using the information from the second data, sendingthird data to the first device.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinestablishing an association with the first device comprises: pairingwith the first device; and establishing a communication channel with thefirst device.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the second devicecomprises the server.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the seconddevice comprises a network gateway.
 17. The method of claim 13, whereinthe location remote to the first device corresponds to the location ofthe second device.
 18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring instructions which, when executed by a processor of a firstdevice, perform a method comprising, at the first device: presentingconnection information to a second device; receiving a response from thesecond device; establishing an association with the second device;transmitting, in response to a determination that the first device andthe second device are connected for data, first data to the seconddevice, the first data comprising addressing information for a server;receiving second data from the second device, the second data comprisinginformation for establishing communications with the first device; andin response to receiving the second data from the second deviceconfiguring the first device to receive third data from a locationremote to the first device using the information from the second data.19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18,wherein establishing an association with the second device comprises:pairing with the second device; and establishing a communication channelwith the second device.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 18, wherein the second data comprises an informationpayload comprising authentication information.
 21. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the second devicecomprises the server.
 22. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 18, wherein the location remote to the first devicecorresponds to the location of a cloud server.
 23. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the locationremote to the first device corresponds to the location of the seconddevice.
 24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim18, wherein the first device and the second device are connected to anetwork, and the remote location corresponds to the location of a thirddevice connected to the network.
 25. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the second deviceis one of a tablet PC, a smartphone, a cellular phone, a digital mediaplayer, an electronic reader, an electronic wearable device, a smart TV,a video game console, a desktop computer, and a laptop computer.